Optical connector

Abstract

The present embodiment relates to an optical connector capable of reducing a pressing force applied to each of a plurality of optical fibers simultaneously held by a ferrule and effectively reducing fiber damage. The optical connector includes a ferrule including a plurality of through holes and a plurality of optical fibers held by the ferrule with end faces of the optical fibers protruding from the ferrule. The maximum curvature of the end face of each of the optical fibers and a variation amount of a protrusion amount of each of the optical fibers are adjusted to enable excellent many-to-many PC connection.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An optical connector comprising:
 a plurality of first optical fibers; and 
 a first ferrule including one end face and a plurality of through holes each having an opening on the one end face, the first ferrule holding a part of a tip part of each of the first optical fibers by a corresponding one of the through holes with end faces of the first optical fibers protruding from the one end face, wherein 
 a maximum curvature R [1/mm] of the end face of each of the first optical fibers and a variation amount Δh [μm] of a protrusion amount h of each of the first optical fibers protruding from the one end face of the first ferrule satisfy a relationship of (Δh/3.5) 2 +(R/0.2) 2 <1, the protrusion amount h defined along a central axis of each of the first optical fibers, 
 each of the first optical fibers includes a multicore optical fiber having a plurality of cores and a single cladding surrounding each of the cores, and 
 in a cross section of the multicore optical fiber, the cores are disposed surrounding a center of the cross section in a state in which a shortest distance from the center of the cross section to a center of each of the cores is 5 μm or more, the cross section being perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the multicore optical fiber. 
 
     
     
       2. The optical connector according to  claim 1 , wherein a side face of the tip part of each of the first optical fibers and an inner wall surface of the corresponding one of the through holes of the first ferrule are bonded and fixed to each other. 
     
     
       3. The optical connector according to  claim 1 , wherein a maximum curvature radius r (=1/R) of the end face of each of the first optical fibers is 25 mm or more, and the protrusion amount h falls within a range of 0 μm to 3.5 μm. 
     
     
       4. The optical connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the variation amount Δh of the protrusion amount of each of the first optical fibers is 0.1 μm or less. 
     
     
       5. The optical connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the first ferrule includes a pair of guide holes disposed with the through holes interposed therebetween, and
 the optical connector further comprises: 
 a plurality of second optical fibers each having the same structure as the first optical fibers; 
 a second ferrule having the same structure as the first ferrule, the second ferrule holding a tip part including an end face of each of the second optical fibers; 
 a pair of guide pins each having one end inserted into a corresponding one of the guide holes of the first ferrule and the other end inserted into a corresponding one of the guide holes of the second ferrule; and 
 a press applying structure for butting the end faces of the first optical fibers and end faces of the respective second optical fibers against each other while applying a pressing force of 10 N or more with the first ferrule and the second ferrule opposed to each other through the pair of guide pins.